On A Scale Of One To Ten
by Neelie2009
Summary: What happens when House and Cuddy watch an adult film together
1. Chapter 1: The bar is set

A/N: I started writing this story prior to the end of season 6. The events of "help me" have not happened, but pretty much everything else in season 6 has. When the story opens, Cuddy has recently dumped Lucas but her and House have yet to "unite".

On a scale of ten

Chapter 1: The bar is set

House burst through the doors of PPTH with a spring in his limp. He spent most of the morning alternating between jerking off to internet porn or playing "call of duty" on his playstation3. He wasn't really sure which gun he preferred firing but when he got to shoot both, it was definitely a mood elevator.

As he paused at the nurse's station to pick up his messages he was interrupted by the sound of angry heels approaching him. House was so in tuned to Cuddy that he could tell the difference between her walks. He preferred the flirtatious walk which had a slower cadence as she took the time to put a little hip swagger in her gait. He least preferred the angry walk; her heels hit the ground in such quick succession he was amazed that she could make her little legs move that fast. He still, however, preferred that to the sound of no heels what-so-ever.

"House!" she yelled. "Get in my office now!"

_Excellent!_ He preferred getting shouted at in her office. It helped him fantasize about the day when he would turn one of the weekly arguments into a romp on her old med school desk. House liked to dream these thoughts but in reality he never really had the gumption to follow through on anything. Mostly it was the fear of rejection, of course he would never admit to that, but it was also the fear that once they entered down that path, neither of them knew what the future would hold. Due to his fear of the

House made his way into Cuddy's office. She was already in her power position with her hands on her desk, the fast paced angry walk was not match for his lazy limping swagger. Little did he know that his slow saunter had already loosened up Cuddy's rage, his swagger was akin to James Dean's, and she always had a thing for James Dean. She tried to keep the anger in her voice as she reprimanded him for his team breaking yet another MRI machine.

"House, you can't put two people in an MRI machine!" House had been working on a case of a young obese man who was crazy, yes he could still use that word to describe people especially since he now had firsthand experience in the nut house. The patient thought aliens were invading his brain so there was no way he would consent to an MRI. Finally, Chase convinced him to do it if one of the doctors were in there with him. Unlucky for the MRI machine, Foreman drew the short straw. The weight of the two of them was enough to cause the MRI bed to break. House had a field day with mocking his team for that one.

"Come on Cuddy, I am sure you and I could fit just fine" House responded with a eyebrow wiggle for good measure.

"House, I can assure you. I will never set foot in an MRI machine with you." Without realizing it, Cuddy's anger had completely left her voice.

"Fine" House responded as he absentmindedly lifted his cane to trace the outline of the desk. He was thinking of all the things he could do to Cuddy on that desk. "We can do it in a hyperbaric chamber, I am sure the low oxygen would enhance the experience!"

"Actually House, I didn't have a problem with sharing an MRI machine, it was more the company that concerned me." Cuddy looked down at her computer to feign disinterestedness. She could stop her mind from imagining the two of them going at it in the hyperbaric chamber.

"Are you telling me, you would have sex with Lucas in an MRI machine!" For some reason, House always felt the need to bring Lucas up. It was like he needed to constantly remind her of the mistake she made. Since the break-up Cuddy wished that House would actually make a move, but as always, they were stuck in this status quo relationship where neither one of them had the courage to make the first move.

"No, House, I probably wouldn't have sex with Lucas in an MRI machine either". Now Cuddy was really focusing on her computer. She got a little pissy every time House brought up Lucas (which is usually why he did it) and now she just wanted to get back to work. Her sex with House fantasy in the MRI machine had been plucked from her brain and she briefly visualized getting into the MRI machine with Lucas, only to have him finish before the machine closed all the way. She smiled softly to herself saying "the hyperbaric chamber might have helped"

OMG! Did she say that outloud. She slowly glanced up and House's eyes were as large as saucers. He had that look as if she just told him where his mom hid his Christmas presents. "I knew it!" he shouted. "You dumped Lucas because the sex sucked!"

She would NEVER admit to House that the real reason she broke up with Lucas was because her stupid heart belong to a stupid limping jerk so she played up the bad sex angle a little more than she needed to. "The sex didn't suck, House" Cuddy responded with a look that told him _the sex sucked but I am not going to admit it._

"Wow, and you stayed with him all the time. Come on, Cuddy, give me a number on the scale of 1 to 10." House asked.

"No way! I am not rating my sex life with Lucas for your amusement. Now go do some work," Cuddy said as she shooed him away with his hand.

"I'll make you a deal. If you give me a number of how the sex with little Lucas rated, I'll do an hour of clinic duty this week equal to that number." House knew she could be a bitch and hit him with a 10 but he knew her better than that. She secretly wanted to tell him how bad the sex was but needed an excuse, such as giving him extra clinic duty, so she could justify discussing this with him.

Cuddy got up and walked towards him (the seductive walk with the slow heel cadence) and placed her hand on his arm as she ushered him out the door while saying "I am not discussing this with you House, now go to work, you owe me 5 hours of clinic duty this week." Then she gave him a quick shove out her office door and closed it on him.


	2. Chapter 2: Sans Rachel

Chapter 2: Sans Rachel

House had been thinking all week about the number five. He knew he was way better than a five, bum leg and all. House was going to make sure that he made Cuddy aware of that fact as well. He was having lunch with Wilson in the cafeteria when he saw Cuddy on line to buy her usually rabbit food.

"Wilson give me ten bucks."

"No I just bought you lunch for the umptenth time, I am not your ATM machine, House"

"Fine!" House accepted and then gave Wilson his best puppy dog eyes he could muster "Mr. Wilson, can you please lend me ten dollars?"

"I am pretty sure you have no idea what the word lend means." Wilson was starting to cave but needed a little more information from House. "What do you need ten dollars for anyway? You just ate an enormous lunch and then ate half of my lunch."

"I need it to demonstrate to Cuddy how awesome I am in bed, now gimmie, gimmie" House uttered as he motioned for Wilson to cough it up. He was running out of time. Wilson wasn't sure how ten dollars had anything to do with Cuddy but he started reaching towards his back pocket to retrieve his wallet while saying "I am pretty sure it is going to cost you a lot more than ten dollars to get a role in the hay with your boss." House just sniffed loudly in response and offered no other form of explanation as he took the ten dollars and stood up.

He walked over to the cash register, as fast as his limp would allow, just as the cashier had finished ringing up Cuddy's salad. He butted in from of Cuddy and handed the cashier the ten dollar bill saying "FIVE dollars for Dr. Cuddy's lunch, please, allow me. I only have tens. Lots of tens. Can you break that?"

Cuddy smirked up at House as he completed the transaction. When he looked back to her face she simply responded "Self gratifications are generally a ten. I am surprised you only have one of them." She turned and walked out with her salad. She made sure to put an extra swing in her gate since she knew House was staring at her ass as she walked out the cafeteria.

Later that day House had just completed two of his clinic hours that he earned from Lucus's poor performances and he decided that two was close enough to five. He informed the head nurse that he was done for the day and headed to Cuddy's office to annoy her a little further. As he approached her office he saw a visitor there and that only made House add a little more theatrics into his grand entrance into Cuddy's office.

House swung open the door strongly and he crashed face-to-face with a Cuddy clone. He was ready to give another "five" joke he was working on all afternoon while not listening to his clinic patients but instead he found himself taking in an eyeful of Julia Cuddy. Julia was not as hot as her sister but she had the same perky fun bags which attracted his attention. Julia followed House's eyes and immediately quipped "yes, Greg, they real and no, you will never see them" as she sauntered past him. That was Julia, same Cuddy wit, only coated in a heavy coating of bitch. As she made her way through the clinic towards the front door of the Hospital House shouted for all the clinic to hear "a positive Herpes test is no big deal, everyone is on Valtrex these days anyway."

Julia didn't even bother to look angry or hurt, or attempt to engage House in a "who can insult who more" competition. These were all the reasons he couldn't stand Julia Cuddy, mostly, though, he didn't like her because Lisa didn't like her.

As House turned back into "his" Cuddy's office he couldn't help but notice the slight smirk on her face. House knew she would never admit to it, but she loved when House gave Julia the business.

"What was Cruella de Vil doing here?" House asked.

"She is taking Rachel for the night. Her daughter's birthday is tomorrow and she wanted Rachel to attend. I told her we couldn't make it because, to be honest, since I am back to being single I haven't been able to get any work done at home. I was going to use Saturday to catch up on a lot of stuff. Actually, she was actually sort of being nice"

"Wow, I didn't realize she knew how to be nice" House commented.

"Well, don't go giving her saint-hood or anything." Cuddy said. I am sure she is going to spend the whole weekend pointing out to all her friends how more advanced her daughter is than Rachel and how she drove all the way here to pick up Rachel because I have no man in my life."

"If you like, I can go pull a Tania Harding on her. One quick cane to the knee caps and she wouldn't be driving anywhere for a while." House began.

Cuddy gave him a little flirty smile and blushed slightly. When it came down to it, she knew House always had her back. Her smile gave House confidence and before he could think twice about it he found himself saying "A night off from the kid and your going to work. You should come hang out with Wilson and I tonight."

_Crap, run, House, run. What the hell are you doing? Why hasn't she said anything yet?_

Cuddy was a little taken back by the offer and had to fight her first impulse which was to shout "yes!" She took a few moments to gather herself and said "Why not…I haven't really had much adult company outside of work in a while.

They agreed that she should come by their house at eight and then House took off. He had to find Wilson pronto and make sure he cancels whatever plans he had for the evening. Then make sure he has some type of patient emergence that will send him back to the hospital around nine. If Cuddy wanted adult company tonight, House was going to make sure she got some.

To be continued….

A/N: please review!


	3. Chapter 3: A night at the movies

A/N: Thanks you for all the reviews, I corrected the mistake in Chapter 1 (thanks paulac45) and thank you everyone for the congratulations on my son. I have enjoyed many a Guinness since his birth!

**Chapter 3: A night at the movies**

Cuddy arrived just after seven and Wilson was relieved. House spent the last thirty minutes mocking everything he said or did. He knew House was nervous and chose to take it out on him. Wilson would have found it cute if he wasn't the victim of his insults.

When Cuddy arrived she was wearing a pair of dark fitting "skinny" jeans with black heeled boots and a button down sky blue top. She looked casual yet sexy and House noticed her ass never looked better.

They spent the first ten minutes ironing out their Chinese food order before Wilson opened a bottle of wine. Wilson handed Cuddy a glass and House saw her take a quick peek at House.

"Yes, Cuddy, you are allowed to drink around me. I am not going to freak out and wrestle the glass from your hand …unless you want me to" he added with a look saying _I know you want me too_.

_Great!_, thought Wilson, _I am going to spend the evening being a third wheel to this teenage love fest._ He decided to intervene and brought up the lesbian nurse in hematology that has been stalking thirteen every time thirteen needed to get blood work on House's patients. Lesbian/Bisexual talk filled the time before the food arrived.

They had finished eating and were still talking about bisexuals. Somehow, Wilson got the impression that most of the conversations tonight would center on sex. Wilson was grateful to be sitting in one of the chairs off to the side to not get caught up in the building sexual tension on the couch that House and Cuddy shared. He was about to add his own two cents on bisexuals when his phone rang. House casually glanced at the clock. _9:15…right on time._

Cuddy and House could only hear Wilson's side of the conversation. " Hello…sure…um, god I am really sorry. Okay. Umm, yeah, give me ten minutes, I'll be right there."

_Crap! _Cuddy thought_. Don't leave Wilson. I am not ready to be alone at night with him._

Wilson, ever the gullible man, said "Sorry guys, that was Nora from downstairs. She just found out her Aunt has cancer and she wanted to know if I could meet her at the hospital to help answer some questions about treatments etc. She is waiting outside my office now."

House silently gave himself two thumbs up. He thought about ways to get Wilson out of his hair tonight and if it was a patient emergence, Wilson might pawn it off on the on-call oncologist. But a damsel in distress…a good-looking damsel in distress…Wilson was putty in his hands. Of course, when Wilson got to his office tonight there would be no Nora, instead there would be a very terse note from House, attached to a bottle of bourbon saying "DON'T COME HOME TONIGHT!"

House had bribed some go-getter intern that must have accidently heard the rumor that he started at lunch. It claimed that he was looking for a female intern to replace Cameron's position on his team. After that, it was pretty easy to convince the intern to make a simple fake phone call on his behalf.

As Wilson made his way out the door, Cuddy remained seated on the couch. She wasn't sure what to do next. She was about to make up some excuse about getting home so she could get an earlier start tomorrow when House said "Lets watch a movie".

_Whew! I can handle a movie, _Cuddy thought.

"What movies do you have?" she asked.

"Not many, but I think you will like this one. It's an independent film."

House fired up the blue-ray player and quickly pressed play before Cuddy could read the title on the menu screen. As the movie began, Cuddy could immediately sense the B-rated quality of the flick. Before she had time to process that, the movie started and a very busty women knocked on a door saying, "Mr. Smith, it's time for your sponge bath".

Cuddy kept her body still and slowly turned her head to House as he settled on the other arm of the couch. "House" she began in a very calm voice, "I am not watching a porno with you."

"Cuddy, this isn't porn, this is art"

Cuddy looked back to the screen just as the busty blonde discovered that Mr. Smith was not home, but the pool boy was. Within two minutes, she was down to a g-string and bra as she needed to show the pool boy her new tattoo.

"House, this isn't art. It's porn. I am not spending my Friday night on the couch watching you get off to some b-rated bimbo"

"Please, Cuddy, relax, I am not going to whip it out. Just watch this one scene with me and tell me, on a scale of 1 to 10, how good the sex looked. I am trying to figure out if Lucus was that bad or if you're just a hard grader."

Cuddy rolled her eyes but she played along. She was never a huge porn fan but she must admit, sitting next to House on the couch watching the pool man begin trusting into the busty blonde was making her feel really hot.

Cuddy kept her eyes glued to the screen but she could feel House's eyes staring at her. She felt the need to say something but she couldn't find her voice as she could feel the warmth spreading through her. She was afraid to speak, she didn't want her voice to betray her and let House know she was not opposed to the current situation. Watching the sex was only turning her on a little, but knowing House was watching her, watching sex, was turning her on a lot.

The pool guy was now taking the blond doggie style and was grabbing around her to pinch her nipples as he continued to bang into her. Cuddy figured she better say something to keep the mood light and funny. "Well, he earned an extra point there." She found the courage to turn around and look at House saying sarcastically "Do you need a pen and paper to take notes?"

"Nay" House said every so calmly as he locked eyes briefly with her "I think we already covered that one." Cuddy immediately began to blush and she quickly spun back to look at the TV. Anything to keep from looking at him, they both were remembering the night they spent together in college. She wasn't surprised that he remembered one of the positions they were in, it had been over twenty years and she hadn't forgotten a thing from that night.

House continued to stare at her. He wanted to take her right there but he needed to play his cards perfectly. He had laid it all out on the line earlier in the year and he was still licking his wounds. He would never look at a thanksgiving leftover turkey sandwich the same way again.

He wanted Cuddy to come to him. He just needed to point her in the right direction.

The porn star couple had now moved to the shower where the blond was on her knees sucking the life out of the pool boy. House's erection was now going full steam ahead rubbing uncomfortably on his jeans.

Cuddy tried to stay cool and confident. She finished her wine and stood up saying "I am going to grab some more wine. Don't' bother pausing it, I think I'll be able to follow the plot." Then she headed to the safety of the kitchen. She placed her wine glass down on the counter and took a moment or two to catch her breath. She was about to turn in search of the open wine bottle when she heard House get off the couch and head towards the kitchen.

Cuddy froze. He was fast approaching her and she was afraid to make a move. Her knees felt weak and she was afraid she would end up dropping the wine bottle or spilling it all over the place. She gripped the counter to keep from falling and looked straight ahead out the kitchen window.

As House approached her she purposely kept her back to him. The porno had an effect on her and she was yearning for House to touch her. If she turned around he would be able to read her like a book. As much as she wanted to feel his hands on her body, she was afraid of being shot down and humiliated. She would never forget the time in House's office when she made herself available and House grabbed her boob in response.

As House entered the kitchen the moonlight was streaming in over Cuddy's head making her silhouette look almost iridescent. Other than the moon, the kitchen was dark. The sounds of two people having sex could be heard from the TV in the living room.

House walked directly behind Cuddy. He stood very close to her but made sure not to touch her. He followed her gaze and looked straight ahead at the moon. He ducked down to her height and was looking out the window from over her right shoulder. His mouth only centimeters from her ear. Cuddy could feel the warmth from his breath tickling her neck and ear.

He wanted to make some sort of comment on the moon but every comment that ran through his head sounded so lame that he whispered "Cuddy" in a soft voice, but then stopped, he couldn't think of what else to say.

Cuddy turned her head slightly in the direction of House's voice and that brought their lips to within mere inches of one another. Then, like a magnet, their lips found one another.

It was a soft kiss. A gentle kiss. It was an akward angle to kiss someone at so it was very hard for either of them to deepen the kiss. Cuddy inadvertently leaned back on House for support. As her ass rubbed against his erection, he could barely maintain control. He needed to take this to the next level.

While continuing to kiss her lips gently he moved his hands to either side of her hip. He then turned her to face him. The move caused their lips to break contact. Their eyes locked and were both filled with yearning and lust. House raised his left hand and pushed a long tendril of her hair behind her ear. It was a simple gesture but from House, it was huge. It was the sign Cuddy needed to allow herself to reach out to him. She could not stop the gravitation pull that House had on her and she raised herself on her toes to meet his lips again.

This kiss was far from gentle. The sexual tension inside Cuddy had finally exploded and she grabbed House's head with both her hands as her tongue dove into his mouth. The sensation was overwhelming and House had to keep a strong hold on her neck and hip to keep from passing out.

House wanted to take her, standing in his kitchen, but he knew his leg would not allow it. So as they continued to taste on another, House grabbed her under the arms and quickly lifted her onto the kitchen counter.

Cuddy's butt hit the counter as House took a step back to take-in the site in front of him. There was Cuddy, sitting on his counter with swollen lips and a slightly red chin from House's beard. He could see her already hardening nipples through her silk blouse and he knew that this was the point of no return. A million thoughts were running through his head. One thing he knew for sure, he was going to take this agonizing slow. He wanted to take full advantage of this moment in case it never happened again.

He grabbed her left ankle and placed her foot on his left shoulder. He then reached up her leg and slowly unzipped her boot. If there was one thing he learned from his time with hookers was how to remove a boot. As the zipper made it was to the sole of her foot he gentle slipped her foot out of it. He repeated the process with the other foot. Cuddy was practically beside herself with the slowness of the process. She was ready to rip all her clothes off and be done with it.

He placed a hand under each of Cuddy's knees and he jerked her towards his crotch. He wanted her to feel just how badly he wanted her. The movement caused Cuddy to grab a hold of House's neck to keep from falling off the counter. He face was inches from his so he took that moment to whisper in her ear "I can do way better than a five."

Cuddy smiled into House's neck at his comment. House never could let anything go, even during seduction. She leaned back a little to look in her eyes and said "Prove it."

A/N: Please review!


	4. Chapter 4:The slow undress

A/N: That was a really great cliff hanger last chapter! Please don't be too mad at me for that. For those who asked, my little boys name is Alex, unfortunately my husband wouldn't let me name him Hugh ;)

Serious Smut warning!!

**Chapter 4: The slow undress**

House wasted no time with an invitation like that. He grabbed her ass and brought her slowly from the kitchen counter so that she was standing in her bare feet. Walking as normally as he could muster, he led her towards his bedroom.

House had to drop her hand to focus on walking. When he reached the door he opened it and held it for Cuddy. As she walked through, she turned towards him as he shut the door. The both just looked at one another for a moment, both aware of the monumental step they were about to take.

They closed the distance between them without speaking a word. House grabbed the back of her neck with his right hand but he didn't kiss her yet, he just stared into her eyes. Cuddy took this moment to place her hands on House's chest and began unbuttoning his shirt. She kept her eyes on House as she lifted the side of her mouth in that smirk that drove him crazy. When she got to the last button, she allowed House to remove his shirt leaving him in jeans and a graphic tee. House then backed her up till her knees hit the back of the bed. With his arm around her waist he placed his good knee between her legs and down onto the bed as he gently lowered her. He then brought his weight down next to her and she turned into him as their mouths found one another.

It had been a few minutes since they kissed and Cuddy already missed the feel of his lips on hers and a small groan escaped her lips. House had to fight every urge to rip her clothes off. He needed her naked. He kept his left arm between the bed and her neck as he laid her flat on her back. Never breaking the kiss, he slowly began unbuttoning her blouse. The anticipation was killing her. She reached down with her left hand and began stroking him under his jeans. She wanted him and she wanted him to know that.

House had to concentrate to stay focused. He wanted this to be a night she would never forget. He knew he never would forget it. He wanted to stay in the moment but he consciously feared that this experience may have to last him another twenty years.

House opened her blouse to reveal and black lacy bra. It was probably beautiful but House didn't care, he wanted what was underneath. His mind had recreated the image of her breasts countless times from memory and now he was finally getting the chance to see, feel, and taste the real thing.

He rolled her on her side towards him so that he could snake his hand around her back and free her breasts from their confinement. Their lips never broke contact and with one touch he had snapped her bra strap open. Cuddy moaned her approval of his skills. She knew he had amazing dexterity in his fingers. She thought of that more than she would ever admit too.

Cuddy's arms were still trapped in her blouse as her bra began to slip past her breasts. She needed to feel her skin on his. She took charge and rolled House onto his back and straddled is abdomen. Cuddy let her blouse fall off her shoulders an onto House's legs. She then, ever so slowly, removed her bra. She dangled it from its end above House's face for a moment, teasingly blocking his eyes from her chest.

He grabbed it fast and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and landed directly behind House's bureau. Cuddy laughed a little but House was all seriousness now. He stared at her bare breasts like an animal in heat. They were everything he remembered and more. He ran his fingers over her small, darkened, areolas and then gently allowed his finger tips to rub her already stiffened nipples. Cuddy closed her eyes and suppressed the chills that ran up and down her spine.

House leaned into a sitting position and brought his mouth down on her breast. Cuddy arched back to grant him greater access. He kissed her breast making sure to repeatedly run his tongue across her sensitive nipple. He then planted kisses across her chest as he moved from one breast to another. He kept his hands on her back to keep himself sitting up when suddenly he felt her hands on his shoulders as she shoved him back on the bed.

Cuddy's need for him was growing stronger by the second. She wanted him naked. Now. As House's head hit the bed Cuddy shifted her weight from across his abdomen to down around his knees as she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. She positioned her knees between his legs and tugged on his jeans and House lifted his hips to aid her in stripping him. She removed his boxers in one quick stroke. She then stood up to remove her jeans and House took the moment to remove his tee shirt. She stood at the side of the bed for a moment looking at a totally naked, very erect, House.

House leaned up on his elbows and watched her looking at him. He was about to ask her if she liked the view when she lowered herself between his legs and began kissing his inner thigh, and then all thoughts escaped his brain. She started with his good leg but she showed no shyness and moved to his damaged one. House was a little uncomfortable with that and was about to ask her to stop when she ran her tongue from his knee cap, over his scar, to his balls, and then up the shaft of his penis. He scolded himself, he should have known that he had nothing to worry about. Cuddy was one of the few people who neither ignored nor focused on his injury.

He didn't have time to think about that for long as Cuddy took his length in her mouth and was running her lips up and down him. It took everything he had to not explode in her mouth. He wanted this to last all night.

House moved from his elbows to sitting up as he moved Cuddy's hair back as she continued to please him. He moved his hand to her neck and pulled slightly so she would look up. He then engaged her mouth to keep her from sucking him, he didn't want this experience to end too quickly.

House spun them over so that he was now straddling her. He moved his mouth from her lips, to her breast, to her belly, until he reached her sex. He ran his tongue over her lips and teased her clit. Cuddy began to moan as she started running her nails up and down his scalp. He continued to tease her and then began to suck on her clit. Cuddy could no longer keep still. She was bucking her hips and pressing his head into her to the point where House could no longer breathe. He didn't care, he couldn't think of a better way to die.

House continued to work on her clit while using his fingers to probe her entrance. Cuddy was squirming all over the place. She was so turned on that it didn't take her long to climax and she screamed his name as she came all over his face.

House eased up a bit to let her catch her breath but he was far from finished with his work. He wanted her to come over and over for him. Within minutes he had squirming again but this time, he wanted to share her climax. He crawled up towards her, he wanted to start kissing her again but he got distracted by her breasts and only got that far.

Cuddy then broke his trance by saying "House, PLEASE,… I need you inside me". The begging in her voice was more than he could handle (however, he did have time to think how that would make an awesome ring tone). He brought himself up so they were face-to-face, supporting himself on his forearms, he gently penetrated her. Cuddy gasped and closed her eyes as House entered her.

House was an autopilot now and there was no way he could slow himself down. He thrust into her with everything he had. Cuddy found his rhythm quickly and within minutes she found herself on the verge of coming again. She wanted House to come with her so she whispered into his ear "fuck me, House" as he was sucking on her neck.

"Fuck!" House screamed into her neck. With Cuddy whispering in his ear like that he couldn't hold back anymore and he fucked her hard. Within moments they both screamed out in ecstasy.

After their climax House stayed inside her as they both took a few moments to recover. House kissed her softly, pulled out, and rested his body next to hers. They both lay staring at the ceiling as they continued to try and control their breathing. Once House felt he had enough breathe to speak he rolled towards Cuddy saying "so, on a scale of one to ten?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes as she turned to face him. "Did you seriously just ask me that?"

"Come on, Cuddy, I am only asking out of concern for your well-being."

Cuddy was pretty sure he wasn't that concerned since the smug look on his face told her he was quite confident in his performance. She thought about lying, knock his ego down a few pegs, but he was looking at her with the most adorable smirk. It wasn't really a smile, House never smiled, but it was a close as he got to smiling.

"On a scale of one to ten…" Cuddy began and acted as if she was thinking really hard, "I'd give you an eleven."

"Yes!" responded House as he rolled onto his back and put both his hands under his head celebrating his success. Then, with renewed confidence he snaked one of his arms under Cuddy's neck and pulled her closer to him. She entwined his leg in his and they both drifted off to sleep.

Please Review!!


	5. Chapter 5: The clean up

I am posting two chapters in a row because I actually had some time to write this weekend. Plus, I like leaving you with cliff hangers so that you come back for more! I have a feeling we won't be getting any Huddy tonight because David Shore hates us so maybe this will hold you over.

Chapter 5: The clean-up

Wilson woke up on his office couch with a horrible stiff neck. _House is going to pay for this_, he thought. He had spent most of the night surfing the web, waiting for House to call him and give him the green light to come home. When he hadn't heard from House by 2am, he moved to his couch to take a nap.

It was 5am and there was no message from House. He was pretty sure the evening ended in a bust, it was never going to work between his two friends, one was more screwed up than the next. Wilson gathered his stuff and locked up his office. He was on-call this Saturday and his shift started at 8 but he wanted to go home and get a shower and change his clothes.

Back at his apartment, House woke up around 5am as well. His leg was killing him. Between the extracurricular activities from the night before and the fact that Cuddy had his leg in a vice grip, he injured thigh was throbbing in pain. He needed to try and work the muscle but he didn't want to wake Cuddy. First of all, he wasn't sure what sort of reaction she would have to the monumental step their relationship just took but mostly, he was embarrassed that he can't make love to a women without being in pain.

House managed to disentangle his leg and get himself to a sitting position on the side of the bed. This used to be the time when he would down his fair share of vicodin. Now, however, his options were a warm bath and a massage so he headed to Wilson's bathroom.

He filled to tub with really hot water and he lowered himself into it. It was already taking some of the pain away. He used his fingers to massage the phantom muscle when he heard some movement outside the bathroom. He figured Wilson probably made it home.

Cuddy was roused from her dreams when the loss of body heat was apparent. She opened her eyes and for a moment, was trying to figure out why she wasn't in her own bed. He first thought was Rachel and then she remembered that Rachel was safe and sound at her sisters. As her eyes started to focus on the room, she realized she was in House's bed.

Her first instinct was to cover up. She wasn't sure how she felt about the latest development and where was House anyway? She looked around to try and find her clothes but all she could find was House's button down shirt. She quickly threw that one and then got up to search for House.

She couldn't find him anywhere and then she heard some water splashing in the bathroom. She opened the door a crack and there was House, in the tub, rubbing his leg. She was about to turn around and give him the privacy he probably wanted but he must have heard her because he looked up at the door and they made eye contact.

When House looked up he saw her perfect image. Cuddy, naked except for House's white button down shirt which came to about mid thigh. She had only buttoned a few buttons so the "v" at the top of the shirt revealed the hint of her lovely breasts. She felt his gaze on her and she felt a little embarrassed so she quickly filled the silence by saying "interesting time for a bath."

House grinned "well, someone got me very dirty last night."

Cuddy knew he was hiding the fact that he was probably in the tub because his leg was bothering him and she didn't want to make him say that aloud so she continued the sexual banter. "If you worried about being dirty then perhaps you need to steam clean that head of yours"

She was referring to his constant dirty thoughts and true to form House said "I'd prefer if you came over here and washed my head for me." He extended his hand towards the door to invite her in.

She didn't want to enter the bathroom. She needed time to think about what had just happened between them. What did it mean? Was it just sex?

"I'm going to get going" Cuddy began, " I just wanted to let you know so you didn't think I was sneaking out."

House could see the fear in her eyes. He couldn't let her leave like that, she would come home and come up will a million excuses for last night. He didn't want last night to be a one night fling.

"Come here" he said.

Cuddy entered the bathroom and reluctantly moved closer to the tub. She was feeling vulnerable wearing only House shirt so she instinctively crossed her arms across her chest. House looked up at her saying "You should join me"

Cuddy uttered the first excuse that came to her lips "there's no bubbles."

House picked up the full shampoo bottle that was resting on the lip of the tub. He unscrewed the cap and proceeded to dump the entire contents in the tub. "Voila!" he said.

Cuddy grinned. _Crap!_ She thought. There went her excuse. The shampoos didn't really create bubbles but she knew deep down, she really wanted to get into the tub. She stepped in the tub near his feet and sat down facing him. She was still wearing his shirt and it soaked through quickly. Instead of providing a little modesty it was now wet and see through, clinging to her breasts. Her nipples piercing through the fabric.

Cuddy drew her knees up to hide her breast but House grabbed her calfs, which lay on the outside of his legs, and pulled her legs back down. "A little late for modesty, don't you think?"

"House, what are we doing?" she asked.

"We're taking a bath" he answered literally.

"I'm serious, House, what are we going to do about last night?" Regret was starting to creep in. It stemmed from fear. She couldn't imagine having an actually relationship with House and she can't go around sleeping with her employees, regardless of what history they had together.

House could sense her fear. He wanted to tell her that he could be the guy she needed but he wasn't sure himself. He answered the only way he knew how. He ran his hand down her legs unti he reached her knees and then he pulled he closer to him.

Cuddy tried grabbing the side of the tub to steady herself but House was strong and her hands were wet and slippery. Before she knew it, she was practically in his lap.

He reached out to the collar of his shirt saying "The first thing I am going to do is get my clothes back" and he began unbuttoning his shirt. Cuddy could have stopped him but it already seemed a little too late. She let him continue.

When he finished unbuttoning the shirt he peeled the shoulders off and trapped her arms in the shirt. Her naked breasts were exposed and she was powerless to do anything about it. He took her left breast in his mouth and sucked as he kept his hands around her, pinning her arms inside her shirt.

House's semi hard penis was now at full attention. Cuddy leaned forward to get herself on her knees and then came down sharply, so that his penis fully penetrated her opening. House practically gagged on her breast.

He ran his hand up her back and gently pulled her hair so that she was totally exposed to him. Cuddy screamed slightly just as Wilson opened the door to his bathroom and was greeted with an eyeful of Cuddy.


	6. Chapter 6: Anarchy in Wilson's bathroom

A/N: I realize this is a short chapter, there will be more to come by the end of the week. I just had so much fun writing this one that I wanted to post it and get your opinions.

**Chapter 6: Anarchy in Wilson's Bathroom**

"Cuddy?" Wilson screamed.

Cuddy whipped her head up and towards the door only to see Wilson standing there with his jaw practically touching the floor.

"Shit!" she screamed and tried to cover herself up but House still had her hands trapped in his shirt. She did the next best thing and pressed her body up as close as she could to House's chest.

House was grinning from ear to ear as he said "Good Morning Wilson, I hope you don't mind that we borrowed your tub."

Wilson had his hands half shading his eyes pretending not to look but really he couldn't stop staring at the scene in front of him.

Cuddy leaned off of House's chest to yell in his face "House, this isn't your bathroom?"

Wilson looked up briefly and got an eye full of Cuddy's chest. He screamed "Oh my god!" This made Cuddy realize she was exposing herself so she once again buried her body into House's. She managed to contort her face to look at House's and screamed "I am going to kill you!"

Wilson finally collected himself and he turned away but stood in the bathroom doorway with his back to them and said "I am going to walk to the kitchen, pour bleach in my eyes, and then hide in my bedroom. House, please let me know when my bathroom is free." Then he walked away.

When the door closed Cuddy was furious. "House, get your hands off of me right now."

He complied, however, he couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"I swear to god, House!" she said as she got up and found a towel. She practically ran out of the bathroom. When she got to the bedroom she was frantically trying to pick up all her clothes and get the hell out of there. She was more embarrassed then she had ever been in her life.

She got her jeans on, but couldn't find her panties or her bra. She half remembered her bra ending up behind House's bureau. She got on her hands and knees are tried to fish it out from underneath but it was too far back and she couldn't reach it.

In the mean time, House got out of the tub and dried himself off. He was thoroughly enjoying this. He wrapped the towel around his waist and headed back to his room. When he got there Cuddy was mostly dressed, she had her jeans and top on. Her blouse was still open as she was hoping to retrieve her bra. When she saw House she gave up looking and stormed right past House to go to the kitchen and get her boots.

House followed her to the kitchen. She was sitting in one of the chairs and had just finished zipping up her second boot. She stood up and began buttoning her shirt. House just leaned against the refrigerator watching her bounce around the room in a race to leave his apartment. After she grabbed her purse she stormed off to the front door, she opened it and then paused.

She looked back at House an opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She had no idea what to say to him. She grunted an "Arrrr!" and practically snarled at him before walking out and slamming the door behind her.

"Well, that went well" House said to himself before shouting "Wilson!"


	7. Chapter 7: Back to work

Chapter 7: Back to work

The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday passed by without any interaction between House and Cuddy. Cuddy was mortified. She buried herself in her work on Saturday, but she worked entirely from home. She refused to set foot into the hospital over the weekend. She dreaded a chance encounter with either House or Wilson. On Sunday she was reunited with her daughter and that helped her repress most of the events from earlier in the weekend.

House, on the other hand, thought he had the best weekend of his life. He hung out at the hospital all day on Saturday, he hoped to run into Cuddy and he was enjoying torturing Wilson will his constant retelling of the bathtub scene and mimicking Wilson's expression when he opened the door on them. Sunday he spent most of the day playing video games but his thoughts were never too far away from Cuddy. He spent an unusual amount of time playing tomb raider and thinking how Cuddy would make a great Lara Croft.

House wasn't surprised that Cuddy avoided the hospital on the weekend. House didn't mind because he knew no matter how embarrassed she was, she would show up in her office bright and early Monday morning. House wasn't scheduled to do clinic duty until Wednesday but Wilson was scheduled for 8am Monday morning and he was more than happy to switch with House. The longer Wilson could avoid Cuddy the better. Wilson was still blushing every time House mentioned Cuddy.

As Cuddy got ready on Monday morning she chose her outfit carefully. She opted for pants and a nice v-neck cashmere sweater, the sweater was fitted and showed her curves but it came up higher in the chest than a lot of her other outfits. She wanted to make sure that when she ran into Wilson she didn't draw too much attention to her breasts.

Cuddy managed to make it to her office without running into either of them and she considered never leaving her office again but then she was paged by one of the nurses in the clinic. When she approached the nurse's station she came face-to-face with Wilson.

She leaned over the counter and tried to not make eye contact with Wilson even though he was standing right next to her. "You paged?" she said to the nurse on duty.

"No" she responded. "No one here paged you and no one paged Dr. Wilson, are you sure your pagers are working properly?"

Wilson was confused for a moment but it took Cuddy less than a second to figure out what had happened. _House!_ She looked to the left but there was no House, then she bit the bullet and looked to the right. Wilson lifted his eyes when he felt her looking towards him and then they both heard a loud chuckle. They simultaneously looked up to the balcony and there was Dr. House.

"Good Morning Cuddy, Wilson" he shouted "Did you both have a nice weekend?"

Cuddy should have expected nothing less. She shut her eyes and stood motionless for a moment and then began shaking her head side to side. Wilson stood dumbfounded. He was trying to play dead.

House had chosen the balcony for his little game for one very good reason. He wanted to watch Cuddy freak out that he would repeat his "I slept with Lisa Cuddy" rant from last year, knowing full well that she couldn't fire him because this time it was true. Also, he thought he would have a better vantage point of her breasts but alas, he did NOT approve of today's wardrobe selection.

Cuddy was not about to give House, or Wilson for that matter, the pleasure of watching her squirm. She opened her eyes and looked up at House and said in a strong confident voice "good morning House" then she turned to Wilson and looked him directly in the eye and said "Wilson, good morning.' She then turned and walked with confidence back to her office.

The rest of the day passed by without incident but it took until Friday until she could pass Wilson in the hall and not have him stare at his shoes. She thought about calling him into her office and addressing the issue but in reality, what could she possible say? She decided the best strategy was to just pretend it never happened. She knew Wilson would prefer it that way. House, however, was another matter.

Cuddy immediately found House a patient after his Monday morning greetings so he was excused from clinic duty for the rest of the week. He was running a barrage of crazy tests and Cuddy was making no move to stop him. He was wasting a lot of insurance money and his teams' time but as long as he wasn't putting his patient in life threatening danger, Cuddy was prepared to let it slide. She had passed him in the hall a few times and he would give her that look (the "I fucked you and you loved it" look) and Cuddy would walk right past him without comment. She knew at some point they were going to have to have a talk about it, but the later the better.

House was getting a little annoyed at Cuddy's charade. It is not like she wasn't a willing party to the whole event. She would have probably acted this way even if Wilson didn't see her stark naked, fucking his best friend in his bathroom. House knew he needed to get her alone and force her to face up to the reality that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

It was close to quitting time on Friday and House decided enough was enough. He barged into her office as she was packing up her bag to leave for the weekend. "Good evening Cuddy!' he began. Cuddy looked up from her bag and immediately cut him off, "House, I am not ready to have this conversation with you."

"Cuddy, need I remind you that you are my boss, and although I hate to admit it, I still need your approval on things. I am not allowed to talk to you about work?" House asked

"Sorry" Cuddy said honestly "I just assumed you were here from some non-work related thing. Go ahead" she indicated with her hand as she sat back down, "what do you want?"

House settled in the seat in front of her desk and looked her straight in the eye "I think you should go out with me tonight" House stated.

Cuddy jolted back out of her chair saying "I thought this was about work, House".

"It is" he began , looking up at her "in order to maintain a professional relationship, I think you need to go out with me tonight."

Cuddy pretended to be organizing her files on her desk so she could avoid his gaze. "House, there are a million reasons why that is a very, very bad idea" she said

House stood up and placed his cane on her files so that she would stop fidgeting with them. When she looked up he said "But there are a million reasons why it is a very good idea too"

"Really" she said "Give me one good reason why I should go out with you?"

House let go of his cane and grabbed the edge of the desk with both hands. He leaned towards her, his face sporting his adorable grin "Go out with me and I'll give you eleven very, very good reasons."

She blushed slightly at his reference to her giving him a rating of eleven on their night together. She really wouldn't mind experiencing those eleven reasons again but she knew House well enough to know that he wouldn't be able to date her like any normal human being would and she wasn't about to become his booty call. Cuddy had Rachel to think about, she needed structure in her life.

"House, I can't "go out" with you, I have a daughter at home." She was hoping that the mention of Rachel would send him fleeing from her office. As if on cue, House got up and headed towards her office door. He opened the door saying "Fine, if you can't "go out" with me because of Rachel, I'll just come by your place tonight. Say nine o'clock? Oh, and I'll bring a movie" he said as he slammed the door and walked out.

A/N: Some of you were hoping for House and Cuddy to have a little chat, stay tuned, the next chapter is called 20 questions. It should be a meaty one! Let me know what you think.


	8. Chapter 8: Twenty Questions Part I

A/N: I am still feeling all touched an emotional over House's last line to Cuddy last night. I won't repeat it for those who haven't seen it yet. Let's just say, it keeps me motivated to keep writing.

Chapter 8: Twenty Questions, part one

Cuddy pulled into her driveway trying to figure out how she got conned into having House come over her place tonight. She thought about calling him and telling him that if he actually showed up, she was going to feed him to Rachel in small, bite-sized pieces but in reality they really needed to talk about what happened and she would rather that happen in the comfort of her own home than from the balcony of the hospital lobby.

When she entered her house Rachel greeted her with the biggest smile and Cuddy forgot to stress about House and spent the rest of the evening feeding, playing, bathing, and putting Rachel down for the night. She was in her bathroom brushing her teeth when she heard the infamous wood-on-wood knock that was unique to one limping curmudgeon. She sighed and rinsed her mouth out with water and headed towards the door.

When she opened it House planted a kiss straight on her lips and tried to gain access to the inner workings of her tonsils. Cuddy pushed hard on him saying "House, I am not having sex with you tonight…or ever again" she corrected herself.

"Really, are you usually this minty fresh when evening callers stop by."

"I was brushing my teeth for bed, not prepping for open mouth surgery."

"No worries, I like peppermint" he said as he tried to dive in for another kiss.

"No way, House!" she said "We need to talk"

House gave her his best pout as he made his way across her threshold. He knew she would probably want to do something ridiculous like talk so he had half prepared himself for that. He hoped to distract her with sex but he should have known better so he made his way into her living room and sat on her couch.

Cuddy stared at him in shock. She suspected to have to put up a bigger battle than that. Now that he was seated in her living room she had no idea how to start the conversation, nor what she wanted to say. She deflected by offer him something to drink.

"Cuddy, are you trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me?" House asked

"Fine, nothing for you" she said as she followed him to the couch. She sat down and tried to speak but she ended up opening her mouth and closing it again because everything that she thought of saying sounded really ridiculous.

"This is weird, huh" House pointed out the obvious.

"A little" Cuddy responded. She didn't want him to realize how unnerved she was.

"I've got an idea. Let's play a game" House began

Cuddy cut him off saying "House, I am serious, we need to talk and I am not playing any games with you or watching anymore movies"

"I'm serious too." House said grabbed his chest, pretending to be utterly offended that she didn't think he was serious. "Just listen. The game is called twenty questions. We each take turns asking each other a question. The rules are you can only answer yes or no and you can not lie"

"Really, and how we will know whether or not the other person is lying?" Cuddy asked

"You don't trust me?" asked House

"Absolutely not!" Cuddy said.

House looked at her and said "I promise that in the framework of the game. I will not tell a lie" then he held out his pinky to her.

Cuddy realized that he wanted to pinky swear on it. House was always an overgrown child. She knew that to him a pinky swear held some weight, like it does with most children, so she offered him her pinky and the game began. "You first" said Cuddy.

House turned to face her on the couch and asked "Did you enjoy having sex with me last Friday?'

Cuddy sighed and rolled her eyes. _This game sucks!_ She thought. She really wanted to lie to him and tell him that she didn't enjoy herself but he absolutely knew that wasn't true. She had a lot more serious questions to ask him and this game was probably her only way to do that so she met his stare and said "yes"

House grinned from ear to ear and laid his head back on the couch as if he was the "Mac Daddy".

Cuddy let him gloat for a few minutes before asking him in a somber tone "Do you hate my daughter?"

House grin quickly faded. _Crap! I thought this was going to be all about sex. I am not prepared to spill my feelings about the urchin_. He looked up at Cuddy and she looked like she was about to puke, he better answer fast. To be honest, he didn't hate Rachel, he hated more the idea of Rachel and Cuddy didn't ask about that. He looked up at the ceiling with his head still resting on the back of the couch and said "no, I do not hate your daughter."

"Don't lie House!" she said

He sat up and looked at her and repeated "I do not hate your daughter." He could almost hear the air escape Cuddy's lungs. She still didn't look overly comfortable, she probably still thought he was lying.

House figured he'd better ask his question before Cuddy had a melt down. "Did you enjoy having sex with me last Friday?"

"You already asked that?"

"I know, but I liked the answer. I want to hear you say it again" he said.

"yes, House, I enjoyed having sex with you and you are down to eighteen questions left."

Burning an extra question was worth it to House, he had lightened the mood again. That was until Cuddy asked "Do you hate the fact that I have a child?"

_Damn! She was good._ House was stuck on this one. He really did hate that she had a child but he had gotten around that question because he really didn't hate Rachel. He barely knew her and it wasn't her fault that her sixteen year old parents were idiots and that Cuddy was a bigger idiot for adopting her.

A long silence fell on the living room as a million thoughts ran through his head. House was roused from his reverie when Cuddy started to fidget . He didn't look at her when he answered a very quiet "yes".

You could have heard a pin drop. When Cuddy didn't say anything in response House looked up at her and saw a tear escape the corner of her eye. House wanted to explain, but really, what could he say. He thought for a second and then came up with a question that he thought would put it all into perspective.

"Cuddy, if you had to choose to only have one of us in your life, would you chose Rachel over me?"

Cuddy wiped the tears from her eyes saying "That's a ridiculous question House, I shouldn't have to choose."

"Just answer the question Cuddy" House said in an angry tone.

Cuddy sat back and House could see the thoughts spinning in her mind. He saw her body language change and House realized that she finally understood. He didn't hate Rachel, but he hated the idea of Rachel because he knew that after all the battles, he had lost the war for Cuddy's heart to a child that wasn't even of Cuddy's flesh and blood.

Cuddy finally uttered a meek "yes."

House knew the answer before she even said it but to hear her vocalize the concept was too hard for him to handle. He looked away from her and neither of them spoke for a few minutes. Cuddy was the first to break the silence. "So, that's it then. A roll in the hay for old time's sake and then we go back to the way things have always been between us?" She asked in a tentative voice.

"Is that your question or are you just thinking out loud" he asked, still keeping his eyes and thoughts guarded.

"House, I am done with the game, I want to know how you feel about us."

House was a very sensitive person and he was beginning to feel vulnerable and exposed. There was a bitterness to his voice when he said "I thought there was no us."

Cuddy looked down as she felt the arrow plunge into her chest. He was throwing her words back in her face. What could she say? She spoke those words in anger when she thought House was just screwing with her. She really never believed he had genuine feelings for her. She understood that he wanted to sleep with her, they had both been sexually attracted to each other for a long time but she never understood that he may have actually have deeper feelings for her. Now, as he threw those words back at her, she realized that he was hurt by them and the wound was a lot deeper than House would ever admit to.

The two of the sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. House was trying to guard his pain while Cuddy had the same internal struggle she had been having with herself for more years than she would admit to. She knew he wanted her, she knew he cared about her, but she didn't believe he truly loved her and she didn't think that could be enough for her, enough for her and Rachel. Last year it may have been enough, this year things were different. She needed to get a straight answer from him once and for all.

It was her turn to ask a question. "Fine, let's just continue with the game" she said. "Do you like me House?"

"no I hate you" House said in a very unconvincing voice.

"Hey, this game was your idea, if you are going to lie than I am not going to play?" she said.

"Well, don't ask me stupid questions and I won't give you stupid answers" House said.

Cuddy groaned and rolled her eyes. She sifted positions on the couch and was now as far from him as possible. House did not like that at all so she turned and stretched his legs so that they now rested on her lap. This game was not going in the direction he was at all happy with and he was about to fix that.

"Do you think about me when you masturbate?" he asked.

"What makes you think I masturbate at all" she quickly responded.

"Cuddy, you gave Lucus a "5" and you stayed with him for months. If you didn't masturbate you would have exploded"

"Is everything about sex with you?" she asked

"No fair, you can't ask a question until you answer mine." He said as he lifted his toes to wiggle them close to her breasts. It perked up on contact which made House grin.

"At one time, I may have accidently happened to think about you while…ya know…that"

House's eyes got huge. He waited a few seconds to let it sink in before saying "I believe that you are trying to say, yes House, I do think about you and your long hard cane as I pleasure myself." House was thoroughly enjoying himself until Cuddy asked "House, do you want to have a relationship with me?"

House swallowed hard_._ House was hoping to have her in bed, naked before she had a chance to ask a question like that. He wanted to look away but since he had shifted positions on the couch, that was now impossible. He looked in her eyes and saw fear, longing, confusion, basically he saw all the things that he was feeling. That was one thing he loved about her, she was just as fucked up as he was. He figured it was now or never so he took the chance and "manned up" Well, as well as House could.

He started to say "yeeeeaaasss?" ever so slowly and gauged her reaction with each syllable. When he began with the "y" a slow smile started creeping into Cuddy's eyes and by the time he finished she couldn't suppress her smile.

"Oh relax, Cuddy, I am not interesting in picking out China patterns with you so don't go all crazy on me."

Cuddy was still smiling and House was becoming very unnerved.

"My turn. Have you ever thought about me when having sex with Lucus?

"Oh my god, you really are obsessed with sex." Cuddy said.

"Oh my god, you are really obsessed with stalling!" House countered.

"It was only one time so don't go around gloating like your god's gift to women, AND it was only because you called in the middle of it." Cuddy was rambling as fast as she could. Technically she had only thought about House once during sex so she wasn't lying. What she left out was that when Lucus kissed her she couldn't help thinking how his lips were no were near as soft and gentle. Lucus used his tongue like a dart, jabbing here, jabbing there. Many times when Lucus kissed her she would remember the taste of House's tongue and how it glided smoothly around her mouth.

Of course, it really didn't matter whether she admitted to that or not. House was already having a grand ole time with his new found knowledge. Fine, if he was going to make her admit to these things then she was going to do the same to him.

"House, do you think about me when you're naked, in the shower?"

"I think about you all the time" he responded. _I can't believe I just said that out loud._

Cuddy was floored. Did he really think about her all the time? As she was thinking these thoughts, she was giving House a look that was turning him very much. He needed to get this show in the road.

"Are you going to have sex with me tonight?" he asked.

Cuddy pretended to be thinking and House was getting restless. He grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap.

Cuddy squirmed saying "I haven't answered the questions yet!"

"Maybe not with your lips but your breasts have already nodded their approval." He said

Cuddy made herself more comfortable on his lap and placed a knee on either side of him as she sat facing him. House tried to dive in for a kiss but she teasingly pulled away. She put up a finger in front of her face saying "yes, I will have sex with you tonight but I still have 15 questions left and we are going to finish this game.

House heard all he needed to hear and he dove into her neck as he said "Fire away" and he started painting soft kisses on her neck and ear lobe."

"Did you want to have a relationship with me last year after we kissed?" Cuddy knew this was a sensitive topic but she may never have another opportunity to get an honest answer out of him. She thought she had read all the signs from him last year, the kiss, the flirting, the desk, and then nothing. She needed to know if it was his Vicodin or if he really had feelings for her since last year.

In lieu of an answer House moved his lips to her sternum and started to unbutton her pajama top "House, answer the question."

House could give a shit about the game anymore, he wanted to get onto the good stuff. He answered her honestly, mostly to shut her up and get the game over with sooner. He had undone the first button and was moving his kisses towards her breast when he said "yes".

Cuddy immediately pulled away to look at him, thus breaking his contact with her chest. "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked.

House was pissed at the loss of contact. "That is not a yes or no question, Cuddy"

"Arg!" she cried. "Fine, your turn"

"Are these expansive pajamas?" he asked

Cuddy was a little confused by the question and answered no. She had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when House ripped open her top and all the buttons went flying around the room.

"House! You could have just asked me to take it off. Wait. Is Wilson hiding in the closet so he can watch us having sex again?"

House smirked and answered no. Then an idea hit him "Do you want Wilson to be hiding in the closet and watching us have sex"

"No!" Cuddy said but they both couldn't help laughing since it wouldn't surprise either of them if Wilson figuratively came out of the closet.

House began tugging at Cuddy's pants getting annoyed at the slow progress they were making. Cuddy knew she still had questions left but she knew House was getting restless. She didn't see the harm in finishing the game during sex so she stood up and removed all but her thong. House followed suit. She was amazed at House fast a cripple could get himself naked.

She was about to sit on his lap again when he turned her around , pulled her panties aside, and brought her down on top of him from behind.

Cuddy gasped. She sat there for a moment, enjoy the feel of him inside her. House brought his lips to her ear and started to kiss her earlobe. Cuddy moaned softly.

House wanted to stay inside her forever. The sound of her moaning caused his hips to buck into her involuntarily. Cuddy moaned again and started to ride him. He placed his hands on the side of her butt to steady her as he watched her gorgeous ass ride up and down on him. He had to resist the urge to smack it. Then he realized he might not have to resist that urge so he lightly smacked her ass asking her "do you like that?"

Cuddy had never had rough sex before but she was beginning to think that the experiences she shared with other men were nothing compared to what she was sharing with House. Not only did she like his smack, she wanted him to do it again.

She continued to pump up and down on him and instead of responding yes she asked "Can you do that harder?"

House smacked her right butt check really hard causing Cuddy to cry out. He then held her up off of him and turned her around to face him. He wanted to look at her when she was screaming in pleasure. She straddled him again but this time she very willingly offered him her chest. House kissed her breasts and sucked hard on her nipples and then bit down. Cuddy screamed in both pain and pleasure.

House was afraid he hurt her so he looked up and asked "you okay?"

When he looked up she kissed him deeply while nodding yes so that he would know he didn't hurt her. His tongue in her mouth, his hands on her ass, the feel of him inside her, she was on the verge an orgasim. House could sense her agitation as her hips started to pump erratically. House smacked her ass again and this time it took Cuddy over the edge. She muffled her screams in his mouth as she rode out her orgasm.

They continued to kiss as House allowed her time to recuperate. Once her breathing returned to normal House turned the two of them so that Cuddy was not laying with her back on the couch. House slowly penetrated her again.

The feeling was indescribable to House. She was his Cuddy and she made him feel things he never felt before. Before he had a chance to filter his thoughts he said "Even if I screw this relationship thing up, will you promise to keep having sex with me?"

"Absolutely not, I need some bargaining chip to make you act like a normal human being."

"I can promise you that sex or no sex, I am completely incapable of acting like a normal human being" he said.

"Really?" she began "Even if I do this?" and she lifted her legs, placed them on top of his shoulders, and bent her knees so that House's entire length plunged deep inside her.

House was at a loss for words as he closed his eyes and let himself give into the pleasure. From then on it only took him a few more moments until he dumped his seed inside her. He could no longer hold his body weight and he collapsed onto Cuddy.

Cuddy kept waiting for him to move but finally said "House, I can't breathe"

"Sorry" he said and he got up off of her and headed towards her bedroom.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"What, are you going to sex me up and then kick me out?" house asked.

"No, but you can't go to sleep yet, I still have ten questions left?" she pointed out.

"but I already got you naked and had my way with you" House countered.

"too bad, get your butt over here!"

A/N: Please review!


	9. Chapter 9: Twenty questions part II

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews everyone!

**Chapter 9: Twenty Questions-Part Two**

House slowly started heading back to the couch "I guess I wasn't smacking you hard enough if you could still count."

Cuddy smirked as she got up to put her pants back on. House immediately grabbed her wrist, "Absolutely not! If we are finishing this game, we are doing so with you in a thong and me naked."

"but I am going to stain my couch!"

"Tough, it's either that or you sit on my face. Those are your only options." He said as he sat down next to her.

Cuddy got up and grabbed a throw off the chair and laid it down on the couch before sitting back down.

"Seriously, you prefer that to my face?" he asked

"House, you only want me to sit on your face so you can avoid answering my questions."

"Perhaps…but think of it as a win-win situation."

Cuddy ignored him as she laid out the rules for the remainder of the game. "Ok, we each have ten questions left, I'll go first. If we start a relationship, are you going to be an immature child about it at the hospital" she asked.

"yes" he quickly answered.

"Why?" she asked.

"Sorry, you only get one question at a time. My turn!"

"Are you going to handcuff me to the bed and bust out a secret box of whips and chains to beat me as you suck the life from my body?" he asked with a serious but intrigued look.

"No! I am not a dominatrix House"

"Suuurreee. I knew there had to be a reason you were still single. I should check your basement. Lucas is probably chained to the boiler with a broken penis."

"Whatever" Cuddy said as she tried to get House to move past the smacking incident. "You know, you can ask me something that is not related to sex."

"ya know, you can ask me something that has to do with sex" he countered.

Cuddy thought for a minute and realized if she wanted to get the truth out of House, sex was probably the only way to do it. "Would you agree to keep our relationship from your team if I promise to go pantyless to work?"

"YES!" he shouted

"Shuss, you're going to wake Rachel."

"Right, like she didn't hear you howling at the moon 5 minutes ago. By the way, I get to make daily inspections that you are keeping up your end of the bargain.

"no" Cuddy responded.

"I also get to chose the time and place of that inspection" he continued as if she hadn't spoken

"Again, no" she answered

"Those weren't questions" he pointed out.

"I know, could you please ask a question?" she asked

"Fine, If I discover that you are wearing panties at work I get to remove them, punish you with sex in your office, and then hang them in the clinic as a reminder of your naughtiness."

"still not a question" she said with an emotionless face.

House was starting to like this game, all the sex talk was getting Cuddy to loosen up and he could avoid any difficult questions about feelings etc. He decided to explore this strategy further. "Will you give me blow jobs at work?"

"NO! I think I liked it better when you didn't understand what a question was."

"Will you give me a blow job now?" House asked.

"No, and it's my turn." Cuddy informed him. She was getting a little frustrated with his utter obsession with all things sexual. She decided to return to her original plans of asking questions about how he truly felt about her. "Does a relationship mean more than sex to you?"

"I don't understand the question" he said as he gave her a blank expression. Anything to stall and avoid answering dangerous questions like that.

"That doesn't need an explanation, yes or no." Cuddy wanted to smack him for his pretend ignorance but then that would probably open up another line of questions about how she liked things violent.

House finally explained "Depends on the nature of the relationship. My relationship with butterscotch, the very erotic "dancer" is purely sexual, my relationship with Wilson, not so much."

"I hope not at all, but that is another whole conversation." Cuddy sometimes wondered about those two. Wilson totally seemed the type and House was always cracking jokes about their suspicious relationship. The jokes, however probably stemmed from House utter obsession with sex.

"Fine, let me clarify since you can't seem to provide a yes or no answer" she said as she looked at him like he was being intentionally dense. "if you and I begin seeing each other outside of work, will I be chained to my bedpost and used as your own personal sex slave."

House pursed his lips as he looked up to the ceiling to contemplate that one. He was about to answer yes, because it really sounded like an awesome definition of a relationship but when Cuddy jutted out her chin and gave him to stink eye for stalling he responded "I guess not… as long as you promise to occasionally serve as my sex slave" he added after second thought.

Sticking with his overall theme he asked "Can I see your sex toy chest?"

"Absolutely not!'

"Why not?" he whined.

"For starters, we haven't even had a real date."

"so you do have a toy chest?" House asked with considerable interests.

"Of course that is what you are going to take away from this conversation" Cuddy said aloud, though she was mostly talking to herself.

House knew she was getting overly frustrated with this conversation but he was formulating a plan. Cuddy, always the control freak, was trying very hard to predict his future behavior concerning them and their potential "relationship". As usual, she was missing the forest for the trees. There was only one question House wanted an answer to, and he had the last question, so he was purposely keeping Cuddy off track until then.

In addition to getting frustrated, Cuddy was starting to get rather cold sitting there naked, having this ridiculous conversation. She wrapped the edge of the blanket she was sitting on around her legs. House was getting chilly to so he reached out his hand and pulled her close to him.

They were laying on the couch with House's back resting against the arm and his body stretched the whole length of the couch. Cuddy was snuggled in between his legs with her back to his chest and her body covered with the blanket. Cuddy tried her best to enjoy the moment and not think about how she was probably staining her couch.

House like this position better, he didn't want her to be able to look him in the eye when he got to ask his final question. This game was getting annoying so he offered a suggestion. "It's getting late, how about we settle for three more questions."

Cuddy agreed. She was getting tired and she felt she really wasn't getting anywhere with him. Basically he promised her nothing and did nothing to ease her fears. She was going to have to make a choice with the information she had, either follow her heart and give it a go, or follow her head and get out now while she still had some measure of dignity left.

"House, do you hate me for dating Lucas?"

House had never really asked himself that question before so there was a moment of silence as he ran through his thoughts. He could feel the tension in Cuddy's whole body. In the end, he answered as truthfully as he could. "I did, when I first found out. I guess I mostly hated the fact that you shared as much as you did about me with him."

Cuddy hung her head down. Both of them were thinking back to that awful breakfast they had to endure at the conference and how Lucas made sure House knew that Cuddy had divulge one of House's darkest moments with him.

Remembering that moment made House forget about his sex question and he sincerely asked "Did you tell Lucas that we slept together in college?"

"God no" Cuddy answered "He was already so jealous of you that I didn't need to provide him with any more reasons."

House smiled to himself as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her naked frame. He could at least take solace in the fact that she hadn't divulged everything about them to Lucas. For some reason he would have felt completely violated if she had shared that with him.

Cuddy's must have been thinking along the same line because she asked "Does Wilson know we slept together in college?" Cuddy had always assumed he had but Wilson had never really said anything to her. That was very unlike Wilson. He needed to dissect every little conversation and behavior between the two of them, she found it very hard to imagine him keeping a nugget like that under wraps.

"nope" House responded and didn't really provide any more details. Either way, Cuddy felt a lot better and the tension in her body started to leave her.

"Are you jealous of Wilson?" House asked somewhat mockingly when he felt her body relax.

"If I am jealous of anyone in the relationship between you and Wilson, I am jealous of you. It must be nice to know that you can do or say whatever you want and Wilson will defend you till the end of the earth!"

"Too bad, he's mine, find your own" he said.

Cuddy knew she was down to her last question. Since she was already naked in House's arms her heart won over her head and she asked "will you take me on a real date tomorrow night? ya know, in public, fully clothed, with witnesses." She couldn't believe she was actually asking House on a date. She was afraid if she didn't, House would just show up at 10pm every night for his booty call.

"why not" House consented. He figured he got out of the conversation relatively unscathed. Cuddy smiled as she instinctively snuggled into House's chest a little more.

Now it was his turn. One final question. The answer to which would really determine if this little game was worth it. House swallowed and thought about how to phrase the question. Present tense, past tense, future tense. Actually, he really didn't care about before or after, he cared about now.

"Cuddy, do you love me?" he asked.

A/N: Well, yes or no? What should Cuddy say? Let me know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10: Unexpected answer

Chapter 10: An unexpected response

_Now it was his turn. One final question. The answer to which would really determine if this little game was worth it. House swallowed and thought about how to phrase the question. Present tense, past tense, future tense. Actually, he really didn't care about before or after, he cared about now._

"_Cuddy, do you love me?" he asked._

He said it. He finally said it.

He could feel Cuddy's body tense up. He was grateful that she was facing forward, resting with her back on his chest, he didn't think he could handle looking into those slate gray eyes. He waited. _Why wasn't she speaking?_

Cuddy froze. _Oh my god what do I say?_ She ran through all the possible answers and all House's possible reactions. A simple yes or no never crossed her mind because it wasn't that simply. She spent years repressing her feelings for him and when she let herself give into them, he shot her down. Then she gave up on him.

Cuddy didn't know how long she was silent but House was counting every second. When she didn't answer after a minute or two he felt he had to say something "I take it that is a no" he said trying to hide the hurt and pain in his voice.

"I didn't give you an answer, why do you assume it's a no" she asked, thankful for the opportunity to stall.

"Well then, answer the question, Cuddy" this time he couldn't help the slight hint of anger in his voice.

Cuddy shifted her position and tried to turn around and face him. She needed to explain to him how she felt. She was not going to get trapped into a black and white answer to a very difficult question. She wanted to look at him, connect with him, and make him understand.

House was not helping her reposition and when she turned enough to look at him, he wouldn't make eye contact. He was looking down at the floor and she knew he was about to lash out. He was already pulling the proverbial wall up, covering any exposed holes.

"House, it's complicated."

"Oh, I get it, it's not THAT complicated. You loved other men but if the sex sucks you come and get a good fuck from me. Hey, I'm not complaining, the professional hookers make me pay for my services."

Cuddy sat up immediately at that remark. "Are you calling me a hooker, House!" she yelled.

"Hey, if the black, high heeled boot fits" he countered.

"Screw you!" she yelled as she quickly threw on her pajamas. She was now standing over him in her shorts and top. The top was covering very little since House had stripping it of its buttons only a short time ago.

"How dare you. You think you can just come in and out of my life when it's convenient for you. When I was single I made myself available to you and you shot me down, more than once. Only when I entered a relationship and was happy do you start spouting off about getting funny feelings around me, and that the last thing you want to be is just my friend. Now what, you expect me to pledge my undying love and devotion to you so you can walk right out of here and mock me with it."

Cuddy was getting louder and louder with each statement, all the years of back and forth and now it comes to this, her giving in to him and him calling her a hooker. House stared at her with an angry look on his face. This prompted Cuddy to continue.

"You always where an ass, House. Get out of my house!"

As if on cue, Rachel began to whimper in the next room over. It wasn't just the sound that woke her, it was the pain in her mother's voice.

House stood up without a word and stepped into his jeans. He didn't take the time to hunt for his boxers, he needed to get the hell out of there, asap. He had just finished putting on his tee shirt when the Rachel started screaming.

House used the opportunity to glance sideways at Cuddy. He could feel her being drawn in two different directions. Part of her wanted to stand there and continue to berate him while her maternal instincts were pulling her towards the nursery.

Finally she turned on her heels and headed off to rescue her daughter. House found his way towards the door, collected his cane and coat. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out her bra that she had left behind his dresser the weekend before, he contemplating just leaving it on the counter, but on second thought, he placed it back in his coat pocket and headed off into the night.

XXXXXXXXX

House decided that alcohol was the best way to deal with the current situation. The bars were just about closed and Wilson and the ex Mrs. Wilson were presumable shacked up at the apartment so House went to the only place he knew he had a fresh stash of booze and a semi comfortable place to pass out. To PPTH he went.

House stayed up until the sun rose. He spent the wee hours of the morning drinking Jim Beam neat and watching internet porn. The one of the scenes made him think of Cuddy so he closed that window and returned to his online "Texas hold 'em" poker tournament. He managed to shut his brain down to all things related to Cuddy, he actually had years of experience in that department so it wasn't that hard. When the sun started streaming in through the window, he decided it was time to go to sleep. He got cozy in his lounge chair, put his feet on the ottoman, and drifted off into his fantasy world.

Cuddy had a much different reaction. She buried herself in being a mother. The only reaction that they shared in common was the ability to completely block the issue at hand. When Cuddy got to the nursery she picked up her daughter and brought her into her own bed. Rachel was immediately soothed. It was a rare treat to share the bed with mommy and she found instant peace and comfort there.

Rachel snuggled up to her mommy and Cuddy relished in the connection. Rachel was nestled in between Cuddy's bare breast and Cuddy couldn't have asked for a better cure for her blues. She was reminded of the unconditional love they shared and her other love life seemed inconsequential. She wrapped her daughter in her arms and fell asleep.

Cuddy woke up the next morning to Rachel cooing beside her. It toke a few minutes before the events of the night before sunk in. She had such high expectations this time around and once again, she was at square one with House. She vowed to herself that this was the last time. As Rachel got older, she would understand more and more and Rachel shouldn't be exposed to the tumultuous relationship that she shared with him. They would have to go back to being friends but then Cuddy remembered that was the last thing House wanted. _Damn him! Why does he have to destroy everything._

Back at PPTH, House had wasted the day away dreaming of scantily clad women rescuing him from a fire pit. As he was about to reap the rewards of being rescued he heard an overly whine voice yell out to him "House, are you drunk!"

_Great! Now Wilson's in my dream_. House ignored his best friends voice as long as he could, but the women in his dream had disappeared and he was about to fall back in the fire pit. Wilson extended his arm yelling "House!"

House thought long and hard about whether to accept the helping hand. If the half naked women weren't going to rescue him then maybe he would rather fall. He was weighing his options when Wilson yelled his name for a third time, this time he followed it up with a shove to his left shoulder. House woke up saying "Jesus, Wilson!"

"House, please tell me your not hammered at 6pm on a Saturday, at work" he asked.

"I am not hammered at 6pm on a Saturday at work" House answered.

"Really?" Wilson asked.

"Really. I was, however, hammered at 6am on Saturday at work, now I am just well rested and ready to start my day. Wanna go to a bar?" he asked.

"I guess your plan to get Cuddy in the sac last night didn't work?" Wilson asked.

"Oh, it worked!" House announced proudly

"Then why didn't you wake up in her bed instead of your office?" Wilson wondered.

"ummm…well, might have something to do with me comparing her to a hooker."

Wilson slapped his hand on his forehead and shook his head. His best friend would never learn. Still, Wilson maintained hope. He offered to buy House dinner, purely with the intention of advising House on how to get himself out of his latest jam. However, when he mentioned dinner, House bolted up in the chair.

"What's wrong?" Wilson asked.

"I almost forgot, I have a date tonight?" he said.

"Who did you manage to ask out in the last 12 hours?" Wilson asked.

"No one, but last night Cuddy asked me out on a date. Have to be at her place by 8. Gotta go" House added as he made his way out of his office and headed home to shower and change. He knew Cuddy probably wanted nothing to do with him but a promise was a promise, and he intended to get his date tonight.

A/N: It may be a while before I can update again. I found out this week that I might get laid off this summer. If we do not get our next grant, which we find out about in July, then my boss is not renewing one of our contracts (and there are only four of us…not very good odds). Being a contract working I am not eligible for unemployment so I am in serious job hunting mode at the moment. Wish me luck, I need it in this economy.


	11. Chapter 11: Lessons in finger painting

a/n: First I want to thank everyone for being patient with me. I have just recently (as in yesterday) found out that I will still have my job at the end of the summer. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted (i.e. not defaulting on our mortgage!)

I decided to celebrate and write a little last night. I am hoping to have weekly updates from here on out. I also wanted to mention that I read about House writing his name by drawing an actual house in "if you let me I might try" which is a phenomenal story that I recommend reading.

Chapter 11: Lessons in finger painting

It was a gorgeous Saturday in the Princeton area and Cuddy had taken full advantage. Her and Rachel had taken a walk, played in the park, and were now finger painting at home. The result of which had Rachel and Cuddy both covered in finger paint. Cuddy didn't care, the paint was non-toxic and washed off easily.

She was about to give Rachel a bath and get her off to bed when she heard the characteristic knock on the door. She knew right away who was standing on the other side. She tried to ignore it but when he knocked the second time, Rachel got distracted and started looking at the door.

"Baby, just ignore it, okay" she said to Rachel, hoping he would just go away. As his knock got louder and louder, Rachel got more and more curious. She picked up Rachel and moved towards the door, she decided that using Rachel as a human shield would be her best approach. She purposely left the chain on so that she could only open the door a few inches. When she did, she was greeted with her bra dangling from House's finger tips.

She tried to grasp it out of his hands but she was holding Rachel and the door was only open ajar. When she made her move, House quickly moved it just out of her reach. "no, no, no, not so fast chickie" he said as he moved the bra away from in front of his eyes. "This is an exchange, your bra for my boxers, that is if you can pry then out from under your pillow."

He didn't mean to add the second part but it just came so naturally to him that he really couldn't help himself. He decided he wasn't going to remind Cuddy of their "date" until he a least got himself through the doorway, but now he probably screwed that up too.

"can't we do this later?" Cuddy asked.

"Sure, I would love to swap underwear in the hospital lobby!" he said.

After that thought, it didn't take Cuddy long to open the door and let him in. House finally got a good look at her and Rachel and noticed they were both covered in paint. "Are you wearing THAT on our date tonight?"

"House, don't be delusional. There is absolutely no way we are going out tonight, or ever" she stated matter-of-factly.

"nice…bring up the delusions. Rub a little more salt in the wound. It is not like I had to be committed or anything." Deep down House didn't really care if she called him crazy but he just found his angle to keep her from kicking him out…Cuddy's guilt.

As predicted, a sad look came over Cuddy's eyes and she said "I'll get your boxers, just wait in here for a few minutes. I need to get Rachel cleaned up before I have paint all over my house."

House sat there alone in Cuddy's living room. He felt strange, like he didn't belong. He got up and moved to the kitchen and found a bottle of beer in her fridge. He showed up at her house tonight to try and repair the damage he created last night. He really wanted to try a relationship with Cuddy and she had every reason to be careful with her feelings concerning him. As he sat at the kitchen table he realized that he needed to take a different angle on things. He needed to give her time and space to get used to the idea that things were different now.

_Well, not that different_, he thought. He was still an ass last night and he needed to rectify that. He reached in his pocket and pulled out her bra. He laid it on the table next to finger paints and paper and then a slow smile started to creep across his face as he got an idea.

It took Cuddy a lot longer to get Rachel cleaned up than she anticipated. It turns out finger paint and hair results in an impressive tangle. She had to comb through Rachel's hair with great care to keep her from screaming bloody murder. She finally laid her down in the crib, grabbed House's boxers, and toke a deep breath before walking into the kitchen to face House.

He was gone. She was about to curse him to the high heavens when she saw her bra sitting on the table. She grabbed it and noticed a few pieces of paper were folded underneath it. She picked them up and on the top cover, written in finger paint, was a picture of a book, then the word "by", then the picture of a House. Cuddy rolled her eyes as she opened the "book", unsure of what to expect.

On the inside cover was a picture of an eyeball, followed by the words "am a " and then on the left page was a picture of a donkey (aka Jack ass). See smiled as she said aloud "yes, House, you are an Ass". She closed the book and placed it back down on the table upside down when she noticed that he had written all over the back cover. She lifted it up again and quickly brought her hand to her mouth in shock. On the back cover was a picture of a house, with a heart under it, followed by the letter "u".

XXXXXXXX

It was Monday afternoon and House had just strolled in for work. He had not heard from Cuddy all weekend. Part of him was wondering if Cuddy randomly cleaned the kitchen table and tossed his heartfelt message to her before she even read it. _Figures, I finally have the balls to admit my feelings for her and she mistakes it for trash_, he thought. Another part of him was afraid that she got the message and just didn't care. He was trying not to think too much about option two.

He made his way to his office and threw his bag down on one of the chairs in the conference room as his team was sitting around the table waiting for his arrival. Foreman was the first to greet him with "We got a case. I have been calling you all morning"

"How did you get the case?" he asked

"Why does that matter?" Foreman answered

"It matters, because usually I get to select my cases, therefore I usually know when I have a case, therefore, I know what time to come in. Since I was unaware that I had a case there is clearly a breakdown in the process. I am trying to identify the said breakdown so I can fix the problem. Again, How did you get the case?" House was losing his patience. He could have flat out asked "did Cuddy come up to my office" but that just wasn't his style.

Foreman started to respond with a smart answer about how if House had just answered his phone this morning he would have known what time to come in but he was interrupted by Taub who was getting frustrated with the conversation "Cuddy gave us the case"

"Did she bring the case here?" House asked continued

"I arrived at 8:30 and there was a blue folder on the conference table when I arrived." Taub elaborated for House so that they all could move on.

"Interesting" House mumbled mostly to himself but in a voice that the whole room heard.

"How is that interesting?" Foreman asked

"Foreman, I don't have all day, stop asking stupid questions and tell me about the case." House announced. He needed to think about this a little further, better to get the kids on their way doing doctor stuff so he could contemplate Cuddy secret case delivery over lunch with his bestest buddy Wilson.

Foreman responded by rolling his eyes at House and Chase stepped up to the plate to fill House in on the background and admitting symptoms of the patient. After House shot down around of ideas he sent his ducklings off on the way to do his bidding.

House went back to his office and sunk into his office chair. He logged on to his computer (password LCFunbags) and opened up his top draw to pull out his earphones when he noticed a white envelope with a picture of a jackass on it. House smirked as he lifted up the envelope and stared at her very poor interpretation of a donkey. He grabbed a pencil and hesitated ever so slightly for fear of what message awaited him.

Inside was a folded 8x10 piece of paper. He pulled it out and gingerly opened it up. It was a photocopied picture of two tickets to see Dr. John at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC for that Friday night.

At the bottom was a note scrawled in Cuddy's left handed backward slant that read "If you want a chance to see, touch, and feel the real ones (and by that I mean the tickets!), you owe me 10 clinic hours this week"

_Damn, she's good!_ He thought. He folded up the note, put it back in his drawer and headed off to the clinic. He could deal with a little crotch rot if it meant the chance to get Cuddy to a jazz concert in NYC.


	12. Chapter 12: What the octor ordered

a/n: Thanks for the reviews. I am really excited about hitting 100 reviews soon. Keep 'em coming!

Chapter 12: Just what the doctor ordered

The week crawled by for House. He had barged into her office only once this week complaining about her abusing her professional power for her personal gains. Cuddy acknowledged that it was slightly underhanded and told him if he didn't think it was fair then it was no problem, she would just take Wilson to the concert.

Then she reached into her closet and pulled out the dress she had picked up from the cleaners at lunch. It was a short, tiny, blood red little thing. She sweetly asked if she thought Wilson would like the dress she was going to wear of Friday. House just mumbled "cheater" and turned on his heels to exit her office and return to the clinic.

Neither of them had mentioned the finger painted "I love you" but it was clear that she had forgiven him for his comments in his moment of idiocy the past weekend. He wasn't going to have to mind his words again this weekend, however, because if she wore that red little number, he was going to have a hard time even speaking.

House completed eight of his assigned ten hours and he decided that was enough. He propped his legs up on his desk, closed his eyes, and was about to start imaging Cuddy in her little red dress when his phone beeped indicating a text message. Normally he would just ignore it because no one ever texted him but then her realized it might be Cuddy. After her little fling with Lucas the man-child, Cuddy had become an avid texter.

House flipped open him phone and as expected, there was a text from Cuddy. It read "Finish your 2 hrs = drinks after". _Fuck_, he thought. She is really, really, good. House glanced at the clock, 2pm. He realized he better get going since they had to be on a train by 6:30 to make the concert.

XXXXXXX

House pulled his bike into the Trenton Transit Center Parking lot and was having fun doing 90 mph up the ramps. When he got to the fifth floor he had to swerve quickly out of the way to avoid a shiny black car that was puttering along. It wasn't until he flow past it that he realized it was Cuddy. _Well, at least that will break the awkwardness_, he thought, as he imagined Cuddy lecturing him on his driving the whole ride up to NY.

House got off his bike and grabbed his cane. He was dressed in his usually jeans and leather jacket but he considered himself dress-up since he had donned an ironed, button-down white shirt. He walked up behind Cuddy's car as she had one leg hanging out the door. He was already mesmerized by her 5 inch red heels and her amazing toned leg. Then he was woken from his stupor when she starter screeching "House, are you trying to kill me! What the hell was that!"

"Relax Cuddy, if anyone's life was at risk it was my own. I would never endanger your large rear end like that, and by rear end I am not referring to your car."

Cuddy just rolled her eyes at him mumbling "well, tonight is gonna be a blast"

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To House's surprise they actually had a lot to talk about in the hour ride to NYC. They started with the usually work gossip, for comfort, but then they ended up talking about books for most of the trip. It started because the women in front of House was reading "The Time traveler's Wife" and House, being House decided to inform the lady that Henry is so stressed in the beginning because Clare has eight miscarriages.

The women turned around and said "what the hell's wrong with you?"

Cuddy decided to smooth the situation since the still had most of the train ride left. She convinced the women he was only kidding. Then when she returned to her seat Cuddy informed House that he really wanted to piss the lady off he should have told her about Henry's death after finally having a child. From there they started rattling off the books they had read recently and what they liked and didn't and before they knew it they were pulling into Madison Square Garden.

It was a short walk to Hammerstein Ballroom. Cuddy asked if he wanted a cab but House declined, he was enjoying everyone staring at Cuddy and wondering how they hell someone like House was standing next to her.

They made it to the show just as Dr. John was taking the stage. He was dressed in his usually flair, he had a purple suit on with a matching hat with a feather sticking out of the cap. He settled up to the piano and House got lost in the music.

Cuddy knew House loved Dr. John but she didn't realize how much the music transformed him. She peaked over a few times and smiled to herself as she saw his eyes closed and his head swaying ever so slightly to the music. She said very little during the concert, she didn't want to disturb his serenity.

When the concert ended, Cuddy suggested they take a cab to the Greenwich Village. There, they found a cozy martini bar a settled at a small table for two. The table had a small tea light candle in a small red vase that set a very seductive glow on the two of them. House ordered bourbon neat while Cuddy ordered a chocolate martini.

After the waitress left, they exchanged a little small talk. House had to resist the urge to pull her into his arms. He played with his glass a little and finally said "In case you didn't already realize it, you look absolutely stunning tonight".

House lifted his eyes to hers and she blushed slightly. He reached across the table and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear that had freed itself from her updo. Cuddy grabbed his hand and squeezed it slightly while whispering "thank you." She continued to hold his hand as she reached in her purse and placed something in his hand.

It was hard and rectangular, that much he could make out. When he pulled his hand back to look at the prize she had given him, all he saw was a white card. "What's this?" he asked.

"It's your present for doing all your clinic hours?" she said

"I thought the concert was my present?" he asked

"Well, that was the first part. Since you behaved so nicely, I decided to give you the second part" she explained.

House turned the card over in his hand but maintained his very confused look. Finally she explained "It's a key" she said, waiting for the recognition to hit him. A slow smile began to spread across his face as she continued "it's a key to the hotel I booked…it's two blocks from here"

House little smile turned into a large grin "I think I am really going to like dating you"


	13. Chapter 13: Cuddy tale

Chapter 13: Cuddy's Tale

Cuddy went up to the front desk of the hotel to check-in while House lingered in the lobby. As he leaned against a pole he watched how every man and most of the women for that matter, had their eyes glued to Cuddy's body. The back of her dress hung low so that her toned back and shoulder blades were exposed, the dress then got very tight along her lower back and hugged her ass in the most amazing way. House tried to find the lace of her thong and then his jeans started to get a little tight when he realized that Cuddy must have gone commando in that dress.

Cuddy turned around and started walking towards House with a devilish smile on her face. House loved the fact that a lot of chins dropped when they saw Cuddy walk up to the old man with a cane. _I hope they don't think I am her father_ he wondered just as Cuddy came up to him and planted a soft, wet, kiss on his lips. God, he loved this woman.

They stood in the elevator and caught each other's eyes in the reflection of the mirrored interior. He wanted to undress her with his eyes but he was in a trance, locked on her steel grey orbs. His trance was only broken when the elevator doors opened on their floor. Cuddy got out of the elevator and House followed, then Cuddy stopped in front of their door. Before placing the key in the lock she turned and rested her back against the door.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as he approached the door.

"Before we go in, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."

"okay" he said "but does it have to be in the hallway of a hotel?"

"I am afraid that once I open the door, we might forget to use our words" she explained while trying to not sound like the sex god.

House walked up in front of her and placed his hands on her thighs "Really, am I that hot that you don't think you can control yourself?"

She lifted her hand and pinched his chin with her fingers "Of course that is the reason" she smirked "You're just oozing sexuality and I don't know if I can handle it"

House could detect that underneath her sarcasm a seriousness had come over her so he removed his hands and granted her wish. "Of course we can talk, let's just do it inside."

He wasn't really thrilled with the idea of having a conversation BEFORE the mind blowing sex but he also wasn't a total ingrate. She planned a very nice evening with, hopefully, a wonderful dessert so he didn't want to ruin it. He followed her inside and they both sat on the end of the bed.

"First of all" she began "I want you to let me say all that I need to say before interrupting. Okay?" House didn't say anything. "House?" she asked

"Sorry, I didn't know if I am allowed to speak." He was trying to behave but really, he still needed to toy with her a little. "What is my sign that it's my turn?"

"Just listen, okay?"

"Okay." He said. He was starting to get a little worried about the upcoming conversation.

"You asked me the other day if I love you, and I told you the answer was complicated." House rolled his eyes, he really wanted to forget about that night. Cuddy gave him a stare that said "it's not your turn!"

"I wanted to explain what I meant." She continued. "House, I have loved you on and off for over twenty years. I fell in love with you in college but then, you broke my heart." He looked like he was about to defend himself but she put a finger on his lips to shush him. "I got over it House, it was a long time ago and we were really young."

She removed her finger and continued. "I was no longer in love with you when you came back into my life. You were with Stacey, I felt a little bit of jealously, but I was still convinced that I hadn't met my soul mate yet. Then your leg happened, Stacey left, you changed, I changed."

Cuddy shifted a little in her seat, she was embarrassed to explain the next part. "I kept convincing myself that I was only giving you breaks and protecting you because I felt bad about your leg. I kept telling myself that the playful banter was just playful banter. I tried dating other people but I kept comparing everyone to you."

It was House's turn to get a little uncomfortable and he started to look away. "I could only see the negatives in other men and I was blind to your faults. I wasn't aware that I had fallen for you again until the moment that you kissed me."

He looked back at her now as he remembered that awkward, emotional night in Cuddy's foyer the evening her adoption fell through. "I realized that night how deeply in love with you I had fallen."

House gave her a confused look and finally couldn't keep quiet "How did THAT lead to you dating Lucas and kicking me to the curb?" He didn't even try to hide the anger in his voice.

"Please, House, let me finish" she asked. He pouted but he let her continue.

"I had spent so many years hiding my emotions from everyone. I tried, House, I tried to open up and let you in but you dropped that ball on that one. You deflected and mocked me. It hurt so deeply that I vowed to never let you get that close to me again."

House hung his head as he remembered the scene in his office. He remembered the fear he felt and how his self preservation mode kicked in. He had wanted a relationship so bad but he had been so afraid. He flopped down on his back on the bed with a sigh. "Cuddy, I.."

"House can you please just shut up." She said, frustrated.

She reached for his hand and pulled him back into a sitting position to show him that even thought she was mad at him for interrupting her, she was not still mad at him for the events of over a year ago.

"I felt empty. I felt lost." She explained. "Then I was granted the most amazing gift when Rachel entered my life. She changed my life, she changed my world."

House wasn't really interested in hearing more. Basically she was telling him he was a bastard and hurt her and she was healed by her daughter. House started to stand up until he was pulled down hard onto the bed. House just stared at her as she held his hands tightly. He was about to make a comment about her crushing his fingers but she started speaking again.

As Cuddy held his hand she could feel the desire to run pulsing through his fingers. She squeezed even tighter to hold him in place. House was a very smart man but Cuddy knew that if he walked away now, all he would take away from the conversation was that he had caused Cuddy pain. With her free hand she grabbed his chin and made him look at her.

"I thought she was enough, I thought she could replace the love I felt for you. I thought she could heal the wounds and hide the scars. So, I turned my back on you. I did it on purpose. I knew you needed me but I was hurt. I watched you start down that horrible spiral after Kutner killed himself and I didn't do anything to help you. I was protecting myself and I will never forgive myself for abandoning you."

House couldn't believe his ears, here was the love of his life that he had jerked around countless times, apologizing to him. He wanted to scream at her but he was really trying hard to not interrupt her.

"When you were gone, I buried myself in my work and my daughter. About a few weeks before you left Mayfield I had called up Lucas to find out some dirt on the accounting department. I was lonely, I missed you, I was feeling guilty and upset. Lucas started showing up at my house to give me reports on things, then he started making excuses to show up at my house. He would tease me and make me laugh."

House withdrew his hand from hers at the thoughts of Lucas wooing his women. Cuddy, however, didn't let his hand go too far. She grabbed it as she said "Basically, he acted like you. The old you, before the downward spiral. I missed you so much that I let him be my House." House looked at her very unconvinced.

"It was like dating the non-addictive version of drug I was caving. It was safe, it resembled the original, but it never filled the void. House, I feel horrible for how I hurt everyone. I hurt you, I hurt Lucas, and I probably even hurt Rachel. She got really close to Lucas and I don't know how to explain things to her." She let go of House's hands and she covered her face as she let out a deep sigh. She wasn't crying but she just looked physically and emotionally exhausted. They sat in silence like that for a while before House realized that was probably her sign that she was finished.

House got up from the bed and grabbed a nearby chair. He placed it opposite the foot of the bed and sat down facing Cuddy. He was trying to find the right words but he really had no idea how to proceed. They had hurt each other so much over the last year that it seemed pointless to apologize or point fingers. He was afraid that anything he said would be wrong or offensive. He was afraid to kiss her or touch her, he didn't want her to think that she was just a sexual object to him.

House reached down and grabbed her foot. He lifted it into his lap and slowly unbuckled the strap around her ankle. Cuddy removed her hands from her face and looked down at her foot. She had trouble making eye contact with him after her emotional rant. She watched as House slowly and gentle removed her heal from her foot. He kept her foot in his lap as he brought her other leg off the ground. He repeated the process and sat there with both of her feet in his lap.

He ran his finger down the arches of her feet and then began massaging them. He rubbed her arches, the heels of her feet, and even her toes. He did it slowly and gently. Cuddy flinched slightly as he hit a sensitive spot whispering "that tickles." House grinned at her as he returned her feet to the floor and stood up. He pulled her up onto her feet and brought her into an embrace.

Once House held her he started to find the courage to speak. Her head was buried in his chest as he brought his ears to her lips whispering "so what happens now?"

Cuddy backed away from him slowly and looked up into his eyes. "We have to decide. Forgive and move on or…" she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence as she broke eye contact with him.

The room was starting to feel heavy and House needed to lighten the mood or he felt he would suffocate. "If forgiveness means I get to lie naked in this bed with you than I vote for forgiveness!" he stated, in his outside voice.

Cuddy smiled up at him and laughed quietly to herself. Her smile, god he loved her smile. It had this effect on him and the whole atmosphere. It was as if someone pulled open the curtains and let the morning light fill the darkened room.

Slowly their lips met and the intensity of the kiss was earth-shattering. It was as if the intensity of the evening was transferred to their lips. House wrapped his hands in her hair and got lost in her scent. He wanted this woman in every way possible. It was more than just pure sexual attraction, he wanted to be near her, hold her, protect her, and love her. He broke away from the kiss and held her face in his hands. "I love you, Lisa."

She finally heard him speak the words she secretly hoped for. She looked up at him with a coy smile and a seductive look saying "make love to me Greg."

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I was very excited to eclipse the century mark. It keeps me motivated to write.


	14. Chapter 14:Actions over words

Chapter 14: Actions are louder than words

_She finally heard him speak the words she secretly hoped for. She looked up at him with a coy smile and a seductive look saying "make love to me Greg."_

House didn't waste any time. He moved his hands from her checks to her back and found the zipper to her dress. He moved with patience, with gentleness. The air in the room still felt delicate after Cuddy's heartfelt confessions.

He wanted her to feel safe and loved. He didn't want her to hurt anymore. He slowly lowered her zipper a few inches and teasing ran his hands in small circles around her lower back. Cuddy moaned her approval as she bent into his neck and started to place small kisses there.

He raised his hands to her shoulders and hooked his fingers into her spaghetti straps, with great care he lowered her straps so that her dress was pulled down to reveal the swell of her breasts. He moved his lips to her shoulder and ran his tongue from one shoulder, down the valley of her breasts, to the other shoulder.

He returned his hand to her zipper and started to pull it down further when he stopped instantly and backed away from Cuddy. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, confused by his actions. When she opened her eyes she saw House clutching his eyes together in obvious pain. He had taken all his weight off of his and was massaging his thigh.

_Fuck! _ House thought_._ He was completely embarrassed and very pissed off. The walk to and from the theatre was not the smartest move in the world, and now he was paying the price. _How pathetic_ _I can't even make love to the woman of my dreams._

Cuddy decided to not interfere and she pulled the straps of her dress back up. She sat down on the edge of the bed and held her hand out to him. At first, he ignored it. After a minute he limped over to the edge of the bed and sat down next to Cuddy.

Both of them were staring straight ahead, Cuddy trying not to embarrass House further and House trying to control his pain and his anger. House took a few more minutes to work his thigh with his hands before he dramatically flopped down on his back with a sigh.

Cuddy turned to look at him and when he looked up she simple asked "do you need anything?"

"Outside of a functional body?" he asked with sarcasms mixed with anger.

Cuddy stood up in response, grabbed the tooth brush out of her purse and started walking to the bathroom. Before entering she peeked her head out and said "I am going to brush my teeth and when I come out, I will judge for myself whether your body is functional or not."

Cuddy went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. She gave House enough time to compose himself and calm down. When she came out, he was in his boxers sitting on top of the bed. Cuddy reached behind her and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the floor where she stood. No matter how depressed House was feeling, he couldn't help but stare at her perfect body.

Cuddy wasn't planning on over exerting House's already taxed body tonight but she wasn't going to deprive him of a little fun. She lifter the covers and got into the bed, facing him. House turned his head to look at her and just stared. "Are you going to join me or do I have to freeze my nipples off in here?"

House rolled his eyes at her but he stood up anyway and lifted down his side of the bedspread and got into the bed. At first he stayed on his side of the bed until Cuddy said "body heat usually requires a body."

House mockingly placed his palm on one of her nipples but didn't grab or caress at all.

Cuddy responded with "well, at least that problem is solved".

House couldn't help but smile at her response. House appreciated her keeping the mood light and finally succumbed to her charms and rolled over facing her. He then placed his arm around her and pulled her close.

She responded by snaking her leg between his and burying her face in his chest. They laid that way for a few minutes before Cuddy lifter her face closer to House, mostly to be able to breathe. House placed a chaste kiss on her lips saying "goodnight Lisa". She kissed him back saying "goodnight House." He pulled her closer and they drifted off to sleep together.

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House was dreaming, about what, he wasn't sure. He just felt he was in a state of pleasure. He started to realize that maybe he wasn't dreaming, he felt awake. Then he felt a pulling sensation and it felt like, no it couldn't be, he must be dreaming. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a hotel room and someone was under the sheet between his legs.

When he realized that the lump under the sheet between his legs was Cuddy, he closed his eyes again to enjoy the moment. She was stroking him with her hand, gentle for a few strokes, then more forceful for the next. He felt her tongue on the tip of his head and he involuntarily jerked his hips up towards her mouth.

Cuddy pulled the sheet over her head and said in a disappointed voice "I thought you were sleeping?"

"If want me to be dead right now, I'll be dead, just keep going" he said in a very throaty, I just woke up, voice.

Cuddy giggled but pulled the sheet back over her head. House would have none of that and as soon as she made contact again, he flipped the sheet back over to watch her pleasure him. He was lying there, looking at her thinking about how unbelievable it was that this was happened. Then she started to suck on him as she stroked him with her hand and he stopped thinking about anything at all.

Cuddy continued to work his manhood in a very skilled manner and House couldn't hold out much longer. He wanted to warn her so he wouldn't choke her to death but all he could manage to say was "now!"

To his complete delight, Cuddy didn't move and inch and kept sucking him off. He grabbed the sheets and screamed "arrr" as he bucked his hips and exploded into her mouth. They both took a moment or two to compose themselves then Cuddy crawled her way up his body. When she made eye contact with him she smiled wide as House looked like he was staring at some mythical figure.

"It's just a blow job House, it is not like a gave you a kidney," she teased.

"I'll take that over a kidney any day" he responded when he found his voice. As his brain started working he added "a liver, however, is another story"

They both smiled at that. House then pulled her closer to him. He was about to drag her in the shower with him when Cuddy leaned up on her elbow and her face got serious. "I need to get back to Rachel."

House just nodded as Cuddy stepped out of bed and got dressed. She pulled on red tee shirt and black skirt before donning her five inch red heels. "What else do you have in that bag, I'm surprised you didn't smuggle Rachel along for the ride."

"I like to be prepared. Come on, get dressed, we have a train to catch" Cuddy threw his clothes on the bed to speed the process along. House threaded his legs into his jeans slowly, he didn't want to leave the city. He was afraid of what turns their relationship would take when they returned to PPTH.

A/N: Please Review


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